The curiosity about Jimmy wasn't just limited to Agent Eagle Marshall; others were equally interested. Consequently, all the mbers gathered at an indoor shooting range not far from the police station.
After discussing with the range manager, Agent Eagle Marshall prepared so wooden boards and a walkie-talkie. They first conducted a shooting simulation in a makeshift corridor of wooden boards, to mimic firing from behind a door. This would serve as a ballistic guide to establish the shooting position. Then they placed the walkie-talkie in different spots along the shooting line to simulate a target's voice. Jimmy was to shoot without seeing the walkie-talkie, as the wooden boards blocked his view.
For Jimmy, it didn't matter. With Heart Eye within him, no matter how they adjusted the walkie-talkie, it was pointless. After they finished the setup and he heard the sound, he fired directly, hitting the chair where the walkie-talkie was placed.
They altered the position three tis, and each ti Jimmy managed to hit the walkie-talkie within the simulated human body range, thus confirming the feasibility of him having killed Johnny.
Agent Eagle Marshall gave Jimmy two big thumbs-up, then asked the manager to clear the obstacles. Next was 15-ter torso target shooting. Jimmy shot two rounds of 12 bullets each, hitting the center of the heart area every ti, to prove the accuracy of his revolver.
With everything concluded, Jimmy was cleared and returned to the police station to drive ho. As for his gun, it remained evidence and was placed back in the police evidence room.
Agent Eagle Marshall hadn't expected to find a shooting prodigy like Jimmy in such a small police departnt. Many can achieve precise shooting, but that is typically on the range, without any interference. Whereas Jimmy, he had managed to shoot accurately multiple tis on the field of gun battles. His judgnt of ballistics was so adept it was as though he could directly see the perpetrator lurking behind the door, with both shots hitting their mark.
"Chief Jas, is there a chance..."
"NO, no chance, don't say any more."
"But I haven't finished!"
"I know what you're going to say. He's my guy, a buddy from our police station. Don't even think about it, there's no hope."
Agent Eagle Marshall shook hands with the chief and then left the police station. He could still be heard cursing and grumbling as he reached the parking lot.
"Eagle, you want to take him with you?"
"Of course, he's a promising talent. It's a waste for him to patrol here all the ti."
"Too bad, we don't get to decide. Let's go, close this case."
The two agents got into the car and left the police station.
...
Jimmy was on administrative leave again—it hadn't even been half a year since January, and this was already his fourth administrative leave.
This ti the issue was big, so the leave wouldn't be short. He had to think of how to kill ti, which reminded him of the Asian carp in the Mississippi River that Cage had ntioned during a conversation.
Without delay, Jimmy picked up the phone and called Cage to plan a fishing trip during the leave. As for the weapon, they could rent it directly from the club, and the cost was acceptable. Despite being nearly broke after buying a gun, securing a patent, and purchasing a car, Jimmy could still afford this expense.
Booking a small fishing boat with the club was Cage's responsibility. Jimmy only needed to show up, and Cage would handle the rest. Thus, Jimmy didn't prepare much, only so food in advance for lunch.
The Asian carp in the Mississippi River weren't eaten by the locals because they weren't used to dealing with such bony fish, and also because of long-standing rumors about heavy tal contamination.
The rumor was that the surroundings of the Mississippi River were an important production area during the early industrial era in the United States. Without environntal awareness, many industrial wastewaters were directly discharged into the Mississippi River, leading to water and riverbanks contaminated with ammonia nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and heavy tals—well above safety standards.
The oxygen-rich water from industrial discharge caused rampant algae growth. Soone thought to introduce Asian carp, which feed on grass and algae, into the waterways to clean them and solve the algae problem.
In the 1970s, various species of carp were imported from Asia and released into the rivers. Over the next decade, the managent of waterways improved significantly as algae and aquatic plant populations diminished. But this success ca with a new problem.
With no natural predators in Arican rivers and plenty of nutrient-rich food available, the Asian carp weren't the small creatures they were known to be in Asia but grew into river monsters, tens of centiters long and weighing several kilograms.
The heavy tal contamination in the water led to these fish being laden with various tals, making them unsafe for consumption.
That was the rumor regarding the Asian carp.
In fact, the original intent of bringing Asian carp to the United States was to control aquatic plants like watergrass and algae. Initially trialed in labs, the fish later escaped into the wild.
With abundant watergrass, algae, countless snails, and small shells, the Mississippi River was a luxurious buffet for the Asian carp, which grew uncontrollably without predators like blackfish or snakeheads.
Asian carp mature sexually in two years and reproduce more efficiently than other fish, leading their numbers to soar, squeezing out the native fish and causing an overpopulation problem due to the plentiful food.
With a lifespan of up to 70 years, the carp that entered the United States in the '70s had barely reached middle age by 2000, and by that ti, they had spawned countless generations.
With ti on his hands, Jimmy learned about the history of the Asian carp. Since he had never retired from being a firefighter at 18 and had hardly cooked since, he wasn't skilled at preparing fish. This fishing trip certainly wouldn't include a al, making it crucial to have lunch ready beforehand.
When Cage's rotation for ti off ca, Jimmy drove to the prearranged dock where Cage had already arrived and rented a small fishing boat. They didn't use a speedboat because their objective was bowfishing, not river cruising.
Cage took Jimmy to the bowfishing club, where Cage chose a 40-pound compound bow. This type of compound bow, with an eccentric cam, was very powerful and used special fish arrows with ropes attached. Once shot into the water, you could simply pull the rope to retrieve them.
Jimmy was new to this, so Cage recomnded a crossbow which was also specifically designed for shooting fish with rope-attached arrows, easier to use than a compound bow.
The two got on the boat, with Cage heading upstream to a more remote area. With comrcial shipping and pleasure boats on the Mississippi River, it was best to find a secluded spot for the sowhat dangerous activity of bowfishing.
No need to worry about finding Asian carp. After nearly 30 years of reproduction, they were present throughout the Mississippi River.
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